Trump news: Erdogan says Turkey will 'not forget president's disrespectful letter' as White House backtracks over Ukraine revelation
Catch-up on events as they happened
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump is said to be “not happy” after his acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, appeared to confirm the US had withheld military aid to Ukraine for political purposes, acknowledging the quid pro quo Democrats pursuing the president’s impeachment have sought to prove.
The close of the week brought a new round of fresh controversies enveloping Mr Trump’s White House, from his acting chief of staff’s comments during a press briefing on Thursday, to the violence in Syria after his decision to withdraw troops from the region.
Mr Trump was quick to hail the ceasefire his vice president Mike Pence agreed with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara over the Syria crisis. The president said on Twitter it was a “great day for civilisation” shortly after Turkey agreed to a 120-hour ceasefire that provided the country with many of its demands made prior to the deadly violence that shook northeastern Syria.
But his DC rivals denounced the measure as a “sham” as the fighting continued between the Turkish military and the Syrian Democratic Forces.
The ceasefire did not hold for long as reports indicated shelling had taken place on Friday shortly after Mr Pence announced the agreement.
At his latest rally in Dallas, Texas, the president compared the Turks and Kurds to brawling children while saying, “Sometimes you have to let them fight”.
He also branded House speaker Nancy Pelosi “nuts” after their recent spat at the White House.
As he spoke in Texas, he was being brutally ridiculed by his own former defence secretary Jim Mattis at a white tie dinner in New York.
“I earned my spurs on the battlefield ... Donald Trump earned his spurs in a letter from a doctor,” Mr Mattis joked.
Mr Trump avoided military service during the draft in the Vietnam War when he was provided with a letter from a doctor claiming he had bone spurs. The president has never revealed in which leg he claimed to have suffered the bones, or whether they somehow went away.
Mr Mattis also harped on mocking comments the president made about him saying he was “not just an overrated general, I am the greatest, the world’s most overrated.”
“I’m honored to be considered that by Donald Trump, because he also called Meryl Streep an overrated actress,” he added. “So, I guess I’m the Meryl Streep of generals. Frankly that sounds pretty good to me.”
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Donald Trump has acknowledged a US-brokered ceasefire in northeastern Syria was at least temporarily disrupted by “minor sniper and mortar fire” after his decision to withdraw troops threw the region into violent instability.
The president posted a series of tweets on Friday claiming “big progress being made” in Syria a day after Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Turkey to map out a 120-hour ceasefire in northeastern Syria. The vice president announced the ceasefire on Thursday afternoon after five hours of negotiations with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.
Despite reports of shelling in Syria, Mr Trump said the Turkish president “very much wants the ceasefire, or pause, to work.”
“Likewise, the Kurds want it, and the ultimate solution, to happen,” he added. “Too bad there wasn’t this thinking years ago.”
Story to come...
Donald Trump is speaking to the all-female space crew right now on a Facebook live stream (which you can watch here). He celebrated the women for being able to work at "a high altitude". He's also announced plans to go to Mars by launching from the moon.
Donald Trump is now discussing with officials NASA plans to land a woman and man on the moon by 2024.
Donald Trump said the "whole program was dead when I took office," though it is not clear if he was discussing NASA or what else.
"We're creating a new force, and it's called the Space Force, so that'll be a new thing," he added.
Donald Trump said the two female astronauts are "two great people" who are "very brave".
He has now moved on to attacking the Democrats and "crooked" House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff.
Donald Trump is now attacking Joe Biden and claiming he has "tremendous problems" with Ukraine.
"This is a terrible witch hunt, this is so bad for our country," he said.
"They're back to the full pause," Donald Trump said after acknowledging the ceasefire temporarily failed earlier this morning.
He also says "there are no shots being fired" and that the US has secured the oil in the region.
"We have lost not a drop of blood since we started what I started," Donald Trump said about his decision to withdraw US troops from Syria.
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